AUSTIN,TX, October 18, 2019 – In September, 2020 Democratic candidate Rick
Kennedy traveled to the Rio Grande Valley. Following is a recap of that trip that he
shared with his supporters:

“Over the last few days, I traveled down to the Rio Grande Valley to observe conditions
at the border and to discuss immigration issues with some of the NGOs working there. I
invested this time because voters here in Central Texas have identified immigration as
their #1 issue of concern. I came back with a long &quot;to-do&quot; list to translate what I learned
into actions to take here at home.

“On Thursday morning, we crossed into Matamoros, where 800-1000 asylum seekers
are waiting for their hearings. The vast majority are women and children. There are
almost no services in place to support them. They are living in donated tents pitched on
the sidewalks. There is no school for the kids. There are only a couple of port-a-potties.
They bathe in the Rio Grande.

“With a local NGO, we handed out toys for the kids, toothpaste, soap, socks and a few
miscellaneous items. They were gone in minutes.

“We had a brief conversation with one of the women who had been there since July with
two of her children. It had taken them a month to travel from Honduras to the border.
She&#39;d recently had a hearing, only to learn that her case was continued, and her next
hearing was another two months away.

“Yes, we need to secure our border. Yes, we need to be selective about who we let
enter. And yes, there are millions of Americans, many right here in Central Texas, who
also need assistance.

“None of that is an excuse to treat people horribly. Yet our current Congress can’t find
the will to deal with these issues.

“Most of these asylum claims will fail. The best thing for the asylum-seekers, the people
of our border towns, taxpayers, and Americans who are concerned about security is to
put a system in place to provide safe shelter, judge their cases quickly, admit those who
succeed, and return those that fail to their home countries.”

Rick Kennedy is a software engineer, who lives in Austin. He challenged Bill Flores in 2018 and
announced his intention to run again in 2020. The 17 th includes Brazos, Burleson, Falls,
Freestone, Limestone, McLennan, Milam, and Robertson counties; also portions of Bastrop, Lee,
Leon, and Travis counties. Rick Kennedy finished the 2018 midterm election with the closest
margin of any Democrat since the district was redrawn in 2011.

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If you would like more information about Rick Kennedy For Congress or to schedule an
interview, please call Debi Bryant at 254-859-0684 or email
debi@rickkennedyforcongress.com.